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Property cooling measures were introduced in 2009 to contain a potential property market bubble and make residential housing affordable. Various tweaks and adjustments were made over the years and the Singapore government has recently made another round of adjustments to the TDSR and SSD which will take effect on 11th March 2017. Let us take a quick look on the various policy cooling measures. Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) and Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) Adjustments: No Figure 1: BSD and ABSD rates 1 Whether owned wholly, partially or jointly with others. 2 An Entity means a person who is not an individual. It includes the following: An unincorporated association, A trustee for a collective investment scheme when acting in that capacity, A trustee-manager for a business trust when acting in that capacity The partners of the partnership whether or not any of them is an individual, where the property conveyed, transferred or assigned is to be held as partnership property. 3 BSD and ABSD are to be rounded down to the nearest dollar Source: www.iras.gov.sg BSD is a payable tax for documents executed for the sale and purchase of property located in Singapore. A property is considered purchased when you exercise your option to purchase or when you execute the sales and purchase agreement. It is computed on the initial value (purchase price) as stated in the document, or the appraised value as assessed by a valuer, whichever is the higher amount. ABSD is a tax payable on top of the normal Buyers Stamp Duty when you purchase or acquire a residential property in Singapore. The ABSD liability will depend on the...

Figure 1.1: Existing Condo and Private Apartment Units Source: www.propertyanalyzer.sg, Data Source: URA Realis Figure 1.2: Incoming Units with Completion Date in 2017 and beyond Source: www.propertyanalyzer.sg Data Source: URA Realis Before you buy a property, especially for investment, it is very important to have a macro view of the property market before you make that million dollar decision. For example, just be looking at the 2 charts above, you can have a good sense of which are the districts that are likely to have better capital gain potential. The first chart shows the number of condos and private apartment units current completed and available in the various districts. As you can see, the top 5 districts with the most number of units are district 19, 15, 23, 10 and 9. The 2nd chart shows the number of units that will be completed this year and after. As you can see, we are expecting more units to be completed in district 19, 27, 18, 3 and 23. Just by comparing the charts, I believe is fair for me to derive these 3 conclusions: District 19 – Currently has the most number of units and expect most units to come on stream in 2017 and beyond. Competition for tenants and buyers will be stiff hence expect rental and investment prospects to be challenging. Traditional Prime District, 9, 10, 11, 15 – The growth in number of units is rather muted and without significant new supply, existing units will remain attractive for those who want to stay in these prime areas. District 3 – Number...

The year 2016 has ended with a slight recovery in the overall property prices. In the latest Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) flash estimates, we saw that the island-wide property prices in general fell at a quarterly rate of 0.4 per cent in the latest quarter, as compared to 1.5 per cent in the third quarter. For the whole of 2016, property prices fell by 3.0 per cent, as compared to a 3.7 per cent decline in 2015. URA Property Price Indices Overall private residential (%) Landed (%) Non-Landed (%) Non-Landed CCR (%) Non-Landed RCR (%) Non-Landed OCR (%) 2014 -4.0 -5.4 -3.5 -4.1 -5.3 -2.2 2015 -3.7 -4.1 -3.6 -2.5 -4.3 -3.7 2016 -3.0 -4.4 -2.5 -1.3 -2.8 -3.1 Change from peak in 2013 to 4Q2016 -11.2 -14.0 -10.0 -10.1 -12.3 -9.7 Source: URA, The Business Times (January 04, 2017) As one can notice on the diagram above, the biggest improvement among the regions shown last quarter came from the Core Central Region (CCR) or the prime districts where overall property prices in the area fell by 1.3 per cent in 2016 as compared to last year’s 2.5 per cent decline. However, on a peak-to-trough comparison, with 2013 being the peak, and 4Q2016 being the latest available data, prices in CCR fell by 10.1 per cent, and in line with the decline in island-wide prices on the same basis. Commenting on the latest URA private residential data, PropNex Realty CEO, Ismail Gafoor noted that private property prices have reached a point of market stabilisation and a closer look at the different regions’ performance showed that the price points were...

The latest release of the Population Trends 2016 report in September noted some major improvements, including the improvement in Singapore’s total fertility ratio (TFR) to 1.24 in 2015 from 1.15 in 2010, and there are more Singaporean couples getting married in 2015. These findings not only bode well for policy makers as they seek to manage the expectations of the people, but it also important in determining the land use policies, and it acts as a groundwork for drafting the future master plans. Headline population number grew by 1.3 per cent in 2016 In the latest Population Trends 2016 report, it noted that the total population in Singapore rose by a yearly growth rate 1.3 per cent to 5.61 million. This 5.61 million figure is close to the projected 6 million population target set out in the Population White Paper in 2013. The 5.61 million figure is also comprised of 3.93 million residents, and 1.67 million non-residents. However, the number of Singapore citizens merely rose by a yearly rate of one per cent to 3.41 million, while permanent residents (PR) fell by less than one per cent to 524,600. The old-age support ratio has also fallen across board with the cohort of people representing the 15 to 64 years old, and the cohort representing the 20 to 64 years old falling to 5.8 and 5.4 respectively in 2016. In 2015, the figure was 6.2 (cohort representing the 15 to 64 years old), and 5.7 (cohort representing the 20 to 64 years old) respectively. Marriages decline slightly, but resident household formations rose The above chart is an illustration of the...

The search for a desired property project is often seen as cumbersome for anyone who can recall the backbreaking tasks of searching the classified advertisements every weekend, and travelling all over Singapore for property viewings before finally selecting the best property that suits each individual or household’s needs. However, with the advent of technology, property search tools like www.propertyanalyzer.sg allow users to save on the time consuming process of travelling, while allowing one to narrow his/her choices to locations based on budget, distance from MRT station, capital gain opportunities, and highest rental yielding projects, among others in the comfort of his/her home. In this article, we will like to narrow down our property search process to two scenarios, including one looking for a rental yield of around 3 percent to 4 percent, and another that seeks for capital gain opportunities. We will also want to include property developments that have five or more transactions and above, as we think that high volume of sales and/or leasing transactions help to improve liquidity. We are also excluding District 14 where Geylang, Paya Lebar and Sims are located as our target audience share conservative values, and are family oriented. First scenario Our first scenario is a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lim are in their early 50s, and both are working in middle to higher management careers. Their combined monthly household incomes are around $8,000 to $9,000 per month, and they have two teenagers. They are also living in a modest four-bedroom condominium in the suburbs, and own a Japanese-made mid-size sedan that is currently being loaned for $150,000. They are currently paying...

The latest Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) flash estimates for 2Q2016 showed prices in the prime districts, or otherwise known as the Core Central Region (CCR) rose by 0.2% quarterly, but slightly lower than the 0.3% increase in 1Q2016. The positive change in CCR prices was also one of the key drivers that helped to temper the overall quarterly decline of the Property Price Index (PPI) to 0.4%, compared to a decline of 0.7% in the previous quarter. The improvement in CCR prices suggest that prime district properties remained resilient despite the overall downbeat sentiments in the global economic system, and the foreign investors are shunning away from Singapore due to the high transaction costs associated with property purchases. General trend of CCR prices Based on the above chart showing each segment regions, the diagram depicting CCR price trends appear to show some recovery since 4Q2015 after falling from the peak in 3Q2015 when the government introduced the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) to curb excessive borrowing to purchase properties. If there is to be a continuation of CCR prices rising over the next few quarters, we might see one of the first few positive price increases coming out of the luxury property space. However, the risks of a global economic slowdown, ‘Brexit’, US Presidential elections outcome, and a hard landing of China’s economy cannot be ignored and this might cause a setback to the overall sentiments among luxury home buyers. Others might point out that with Singapore being seen as a ‘safe haven’, foreign investors will continue to put their cash and assets in this country to hedge against...

With the most coveted residential address known to anyone in Singapore, Sentosa Cove is truly a rich man’s paradise with various sizes of yachts parked alongside at One Degree 15 Marina Club, the various waterfront condominiums like The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove, and the gated landed housing community situated close to it. While some may find that it is virtually impossible to own a dream home on Sentosa Cove, the reality is that there are still some opportunities to pick up a value-add deal if one were to do the hard work of finding such property deals. Origins of Sentosa Cove The island of Sentosa holds a special significance in Singapore. Having been a British Naval Base during the early colonial days, followed by a theme park comprising of beaches, museums, and a golf course, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) came up with a development plan as early as in 1991when it engaged renowned architects and planners to build a luxury residential-cum-marina resort development on the eastern coast of the island that was incorporated into the Southern Islands development guide plan released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in April 1996. During the same year in October, parliament passed a bill to amend the SDC, allowing it to develop and manage the Sentosa Cove project. According to references from the National Library Board (NLB), the entire Sentosa Cove covers an area of 117 ha made up of mostly reclaimed land, including five artificial islands namely Coral Island, Paradise Island, Treasure Island, Sandy Island, and Peal Island. After several postponements due to the recession years, and unfavourable property market conditions, the first batch...

A second private residential land site measuring 176,290 sq ft at West Coast Vale is put up for sale under the ‘Reserve’ List by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) after the first land parcel measuring 203,533 sq ft was sold to EL Development Pte Ltd in August 2015 for $314.1 million or $551.15 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr). That August 2015 land sale attracted six developers with bid prices ranging from $415.69 psf ppr to $551.15 psf ppr. Details of the site The second smaller land site at West Coast Vale with a 99-year leasehold title has a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 493,620 sq ft, and the maximum allowable number of units is 520. The maximum allowable number of units for the first site at West Coast Vale Road is 595. Level of developers’ interest and prices to be expected We believe that the site might attract a sizable interest from developers who need to replenish their land banks, and some of the developers who failed to successfully clinch the first West Coast Vale site in August 2015 may make a comeback. The site is located close to the Ayer Rajah Expressway, and a good name school called Nan Hua Primary School as shown in the top most diagram earlier. However, due to the site being launched under the ‘Reserve’ List, a sales trigger will only happen if a developer were to submit a tender bid that met the minimum sale requirements by URA. According to The Straits Times news report dated August 05, 2015, the first West Coast Vale site was successfully bid by EL Development, but there...

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has formally launched another batch of flats comprising of 3,770 new built-to-order (BTO) and 5,170 sale of balance flats (SBF) in both non-mature and mature housing estates in Singapore on May 24, 2016. According to HDB, with the second BTO launch for 2016, this brings the total number of BTO flats offered this year to 7,940 units. Including the 5,170 balance flats offered in the May exercise, HDB has offered a total of 13,110 flats for sale in 1H2016. The government has aimed to launch around 18,000 flats for sale this year. What is in store of May 2016 exercise HDB has launched a range of 2-room Flexi to Three-Generation (3G) flats to meet the diverse housing needs of first-timers, second-timers, multi-generation families, elderly and singles. The flats offered are located in the non-mature towns Bukit Panjang and Sembawang, and another two projects in mature towns including Ang Mo Kio and Bedok. In addition, HDB announced that it has temporarily put on hold the formal launch of a project in Bukit Merah which was originally scheduled to be launched alongside with the other flat launches for May, but will now be undergoing a formal review to better integrate the project with the surrounding developments. The Bukit Merah housing project is re-scheduled to be launched after the review is completed. What are the prices offered for the May 2016 BTO launch Town Contract Flat type Transacted resale flat prices in the vicinity Average prices Selling price (ex-grants) starting from Selling price (incl grants) starting from %,discount of new BTO (w/o grants) versus resale flat...